July is the quietest time of the year for the NCAA making it the best time for conferences and schools to rebrand themselves. Websites are given new looks, slogans and posters are printed, and logos are updated. One example is the Atlantic-10, which has gone with a sleeker and more masculine design.
From the branding agency 160 over 90, the firm that redesigned the logo.
“The new logo system honors the league’s historically strong performance record and national rankings, while lending a contemporary feel. Custom-made letterforms convey the conference’s level of athleticism and fast-paced play. Angled serifs act as speed lines, while the exaggerated slope of the ‘A’ connotes advancement, almost pushing off of the page.…”
While that is a lot of connotative meanings from a logo it is an upgrade over the 90’s looking block design the A-10 had before.
Not every team in the league has “fast-paced play” but it is a good perception to present. For example, Dayton’s win over Syracuse in the NCAA tournament, the league’s most prominent win of the season, was a 55-53 defensive battle. Virginia Commonwealth, on the other hand, might be the most athletic team in the nation with their full-court press.
Overall it is a nice redesign that could help out the A-10’s efforts to gain respect after Dayton’s run into the Elite Eight.
Bowling Green Turns to the Chocolate Factory
One league that also had a redesign was the MAC with their new website. The real story here though was Bowling Green State University going Willy Wonka on their season tickets.
Get YOUR golden ticket TODAY! @BG_Football season ticket renewal benefits run through 5 pm today! 877-BGSU-TICKET pic.twitter.com/La99B7vPGF
— BGSU Athletics (@BGathletics) June 13, 2014
Because when people think golden tickets, they think MAC football.
Volleyball in the Mountains
Wyoming, our favorite Division 1 school out in the middle of nowhere, reinforces that fact with its new volleyball poster. How many other schools would try something like this?
Hurry by the athletic department and pick up your 2014 @wyo_volleyball poster before they are all gone! #gowyo pic.twitter.com/GDGu3wQNVv — Wyoming Cowboys (@wyoathletics) June 25, 2014
“The Queens of the Ghost Town” would be a great slogan here, or “The Defenders of the Cattle Pen.”Either way I’m actually intrigued about the Wyoming volleyball season now. If they actually played their games in a cattle pen of course.